QRD – Do you upgrade & customize your
guitars or just stick with what you get?

Russ – Changing strings is about the extent
of my upgrading.

QRD – How thoroughly do you research or
test a piece of equipment before buying it?

Russ – Long enough hopefully.

QRD – Do you change your rig around often?

Russ – I gots no “rig”, so no.

QRD – Are you after one particular guitar
tone & locking into it, or do you like to change your tone around a
lot?

Russ – I like all kinds of crazy shit,
but most of it involves lots & lots of distortion.

QRD – What are some guitars, amps, &
pedals you particularly lust after?

Russ – The aforementioned Les Paul. I would
also dig having my 2nd guitar back which was a Westone Concord III... but
I’d be willing to bet I wouldn’t play it much.

QRD – What do you think are some important
features to be on a person’s first guitar that aren’t always there?

Russ – Low action.

QRD – What have been the best & worst
guitar related purchases you’ve made?

Russ – Best - The aforementioned Les Paul
that left me in a time of dire financial straits. Worst - Some sort of
Epiphone with a Floyd Rose.

QRD – What are some effect, amp, &
guitar brands you particularly like or dis-like & why?

Russ – The ever-elusive skinny-necked Les
Paul. I like Marshall amps. I don’t care for 99.9% of strats or anything
pointy with skulls. Bolt-on necks bite. Amps with no master volume
are right out. Single-coil pickups are wimpy.

QRD – What’s the first thing you play when
you pick up a guitar?

Russ – Probably just some random wanking.

QRD – How old were you when you started
playing guitar?

Russ – Thirteen.

QRD – At what age do you think you leveled
up to your best guitar playing?

Russ – Probably 17 or 18.

QRD – Why do you think a guitar fits you
more so than other instruments?

QRD – Do you think people anthropomorphizing
their guitars is natural or silly (e.g. naming their guitar)?

Russ – Completely daft.

QRD – What’s the most physical damage you’ve
done to a guitar & how did you do it?

Russ – Do you mean by accident or on purpose?
Dropped my Westone down a small flight of concrete stairs once but the
worst that happened to it was a little chunk out of the back of the neck.
On purpose I once attempted to fuse an acoustic guitar & a bass into
a new instrument which I dubbed “The Gabajar”. That did some pretty serious
damage, let me tell you.

QRD – What do you do to practice other
than simply playing?

Russ – What else is there?

QRD – How many hours a week do you play
guitar & how many hours would you like to?

Russ – Sometimes I do not play at all in
a week. It would be nice if I could find an hour a day, but it rarely works
out.

QRD – Did you ever take guitar lessons
& if so, what did you learn from them?

Russ – I took guitar lessons from a couple
people very early on. I learned that it’s mostly best to just teach yourself.

QRD – What would you teach someone in a
guitar lesson that you don’t think they would generally get from a guitar
teacher?

Russ – Play hard, play fair, nobody hurt.

QRD – What’s something someone would have
to do to emulate your style?

Russ – Practice a whole bunch for about
5 years & then just slack the rest off.

QRD – What’s your take on tremolo systems?

Russ – I would love the Floyd Rose if it
came with a personal guitar technician to be at your beck & call 24/7.
Too annoying to deal with maintenance-wise.

QRD – How often do you adjust your tone
knob?

Russ – Only if I want to sound like Santana,
which isn’t very bloody often.

QRD – What do you see as the difference
between lead guitar & rhythm guitar players?

Russ – Size of face in album artwork.

QRD – If a band has good guitar work, can
you ignore the rest of the band not being good?

Russ – No.

QRD – What famous musician’s guitar would
you like to own & why?

Russ – I know I just said Strats suck (which
they do), but it would be cool to have that blondish Strat that Frank Zappa
played on the ‘84 tour... but it has a Floyd Rose so there would have to
be a personal guitar tech that came with it.

QRD – Who do you think is currently the
most innovative guitar player & why?